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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: [KDE Usability] Misuse of toggle buttons
From:       Aurélien Gâteau <agateau () kde ! org>
Date:       2010-06-03 20:38:55
Message-ID: 4C0812DF.5050405 () kde ! org
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On 03/06/2010 03:30, Matthew Woehlke wrote:
> Aurélien Gâteau wrote:
>> I finally decided to write about one of my UI pet peeves in KDE:
>> misuse of toggle buttons.
>> [snip]
>> When should a toggle button be used? In my opinion not often. It is
>> confusing to have two identical UI elements which behave differently:
>> if a toggle button is not down, nothing distinguish it from a
>> regular button, thus it's impossible for the user to predict the
>> toggle button is going to behave differently.
> 
> Well, as you note, a toggle button is a checkbox with a different 
> appearance. It should be used accordingly. And yes (as you also note) 
> this means /do not change the text/ (and/or icon) depending on the state.
> 
> Personally, I can't think of any reasonable use for a toggle button 
> except when it is a toolbar button. (For example, using them for text 
> format - bold, italic, etc. - and text alignment is common.) Toggle 
> buttons should IMHO not be allowed unless you can justify why you need 
> your checkbox to look/act like a button.

Very good example, I forgot about text formatting.

>> Another important guideline I would suggest for the use of toggle
>> buttons is not to use verbs in their text: In my previous example,
>> option 1 used verbs (Show/Hide Sidebar) because the button was
>> performing an action. Option 2 on the other hand uses a noun (Sidebar)
>> because the button does not perform an action, I think it can be
>> considered like a modifiable view of the sidebar.
> 
> I'm not sure I agree with that. Again, I say treat it like a checkbox. I 
> think our checkboxes usually use verbs, no? I suppose I am okay with 
> allowing nouns, for conciseness or because it seems more clear, I'm just 
> not sure I would go so far as to recommend avoiding verbs.

Yes, maybe it's a bit too strong. What I wanted to avoid is the
situation where you have a "Show Sidebar" toggle button: when it is
down, the user is faced with a button which says "Show Sidebar", but
clicking on it will actually hide the sidebar.

I think using a noun instead of a verb puts more emphasis on the fact
that the button reflects a state rather than triggers an action. Still,
this may not always be valid though. Do you have an example where it
would make sense for the text of a toggle button to start with a verb?

Aurélien
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